


Visitations

by Fujiwara_no_Seimei



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-07-01
Updated: 2011-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:37:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fujiwara_no_Seimei/pseuds/Fujiwara_no_Seimei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebuilding a relationship with someone who spent years wanting to kill you can be a difficult journey.  Especially when you wanted to let him.<br/>As big as their obstacles are, no obstacle will compare with the likes of what keeps Edward from freedom: Yuri Petrov.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Ivan,” Antonio said, glancing back at the young blonde, “You coming with us?”  
Ivan shook his head as he finished putting his things into his bag, a warm smile on his face.  
“No thank you, I’m busy tonight.”  
Kotetsu gave Antonio a firm smack on the back, pulling him close as they left to remind him that it was _Friday_ night, so _of course_ Origami wasn’t coming to the bar with them.

Friday nights were a happy and sad routine for Ivan Karelin. After work, he’d stop at home to quickly wash up and grab the onigiri he’d made in the morning. Then it was a short walk to the train that would take him to his destination.

It was always at least eight-thirty by the time Ivan arrived at the gates.  
“Sorry, son, visiting hours are over at 6 o’clock.”  
“I have special permission,” Ivan said, slipping the certified pass through the half-circle in the window. He was used to this part by now.  
The guard made a mumbled call into the transceiver attached to his lapel, and after getting confirmation from the warden, he returned the paper to Ivan and nodded at him. The gates opened, and Ivan shivered a little – he always did – as he entered the prison grounds.

There were more hoops to jump through once inside, but it was much easier there because he encountered regular guards who recognized him.  
“Hello Mr.Karelin,” the guard at the desk said.  
“Hello Roy,” he replied, smiling. He handed the man his pass and two IDs as he sat down, well familiar with what would be asked of him.  
“Thanks,” he said, and proceeded to fill out the visitation paperwork.  
“What will you be bringing in?”  
Ivan opened up the box he’d brought, revealing the rice balls he’d made earlier. “The usual.”  
“I’m not gonna check them this time,” Roy said. “I’m pretty sure you don’t have anything funny in those.”  
“Just tuna,” Ivan replied with a smile.  
When he was finally granted clearance, two other guards escorted him to Edward’s holding cell.  
“Visitor,” the taller guard said into the intercom outside of Edwards cell. “You decent?”  
“Yes,” came a familiar voice, giving Ivan shivers again.  
Two layers of reinforced doors opened with a turn of the guard’s key.

Ivan entered, and the door shut behind him with a series of clicks and clanks.  
“Thirty minutes,” the intercom buzzed.

Sitting in the corner, in his usual orange jumpsuit, looking older than he should at his age, was Edward. The room was warm but looked cold- all the walls were reinforced with diamond- the one substance Edward couldn’t pass through.  
“Ivan,” he said.  
“Edward,” Ivan replied, putting his box down on the side table. He sat down in the chair on the other side of the small room and opened it.  
“I brought you the rice balls you like. You still like the ones with the fish?” He asked quietly.  
“I do. Thank you,” Edward replied, inflection flat. Ivan had been visiting every Friday for six weeks now, but the coldness in the space between them made it feel like the first time every time.

They sat in silence for a long moment.  
“I heard,” Edward began, “that you fought that Jake guy.”  
“I...did,” Ivan said, hesitantly. He was always afraid of hurting Edward by singing his own Hero exploits, but figured it was okay this time, if he brought it up himself. “I assumed the form of one of his lackeys that we’d captured, and infiltrated his hideout.”  
“Sounds dangerous,” Edward said. Ivan bit his lower lip. Was he concerned? Or jealous? He knew Edward was being polite, probably really did want to know what happened to him, but his eyes were so heavy, so _tired._ He went on. Nothing ever came from second-guessing how he should act around Edward.

“He figured it out pretty quickly, though. We didn’t know at the time that he could read thoughts. He toyed with me quite a bit before he revealed that he knew who I was.”  
“Toyed?” Edward said, sitting up straight. “He didn’t do anything.. _.weird_ to you, did he?”  
Ivan was surprised at Edward’s sudden concern. Or was it interest? Either way, he didn’t pick up on the implications.  
“No! Nothing strange. He hurt me... quite a bit. I had trouble walking afterwards. I was in a wheelchair for a little while, but nothing permanent. He made me take his form to trick the other heroes... it was a mess.”  
“Did you get any information out of it?” Edward said, relaxing back into his cot.  
“Yeah. I found out how the exosuits were being controlled, so I could tell them that, and we were able to defeat them.”  
“Sounds like you were the big hero this time, huh?”  
Was he proud of him? His eyes didn’t sparkle the way they used to. He couldn’t tell anymore.  
“Oh,” Ivan said, cheeks pinking. “No, Wild Tiger and Barnaby– they were the ones who took him down. And...Blue Rose, and Fire Emblem, and Dragon kid... they did all the fighting. I... I just helped a little.”  
Edward turned his eyes down. Sighed.  
“Ivan,” he said, sadly.  
“E...Edward?”  
“You’re always like that.”  
“Like...?”  
“You’re always being brutally modest. Or berating yourself. Even when you finally do something amazing, and you can’t even take credit for it.” Ivan shook his head. Why was Edward upset at him for being modest?  
“Everyone is just... much more useful than me,” he said, and nervous smile on the corner’s of his mouth. “Even if I’ve done something good, I... I’m just making up for all the time I was useless.”  
Edward let out a big sigh.  
“E...Edward?”  
“Yes?”  
“Did I upset you?”  
Edward just stared at Ivan for a minute, before shaking his head.  
“Are you happy, Ivan?” Edward asked.  
Ivan’s eyes widened. “Um...well... a little but... not entirely.”  
“Why aren’t you happy, Ivan? We both dreamed of being heroes, right? And you’re a hero. And you’re saving lives. What makes you so sad all the time?” There was a hint of anger in Edward’s voice, but he was trying to keep it at bay.  
“Because you’re not a hero, too. Because it’s my fault. How can I enjoy this if it was at the expense of your happiness?” Ivan was shaking a little now, eyeing his wringing hands in his lap. He was making Edward unhappy. Always making Edward unhappy.

Edward crossed his arms, and, after a moment of glaring sternly at his forlorn friend, stood up.  
Ivan instinctively jerked back. Edward never got up during their visits, and he cursed himself silently for assuming he was going to be hit.

But Edward was just walking over to the side table to pick up an onigiri. The sad look on his face as he walked by suggested he had resigned himself to Ivan’s cautions.

He _had_ tied to kill him, after all.

“How do you think that makes me feel, Ivan?” he said, holding the rice ball but not eating it. “That you have the dream I wanted and you’re still not happy?”  
“I...” Ivan said, nervous. “I don’t know. I...shouldn’t be sad?”  
Edward huffed, and looked for a second like he _did_ want to hit Ivan, but closed his eyes and breathed, and made his way back to his cot, distance between them back to normal.

“If I were a hero, wouldn’t you want to see me happy?” he asked.  
Ivan nodded. “O...of course.”  
“Think about it,” he said.

“Time’s up,” came over the intercom, and the door opened. “Visitation is over,” a guard said.  
Ivan stood up. “I...I will...” he said, trying his hardest to smile.

“Next week,” he said turning at the door, “Can I come again?”

Edward raised his eyebrows, always perplexed by Ivan’s politeness.

“Next week,” he said. “Bean-filled?”

There was almost a smile between the two of them. Through all the strained conversation, there were still moments of fondness they could share. Ivan's love of Japanese foods reminded Edward of happier times.

And he'd take all the reminders he could get.


	2. Chapter 2

“Origamiiiiiiiii-kun,” Nathan cooed as he pranced through the HTV training room. “You look sad, precious. What’s on your mind?”  
“Ah!” Ivan said, jerking his head up from where he’d been staring at his hands in his lap. “‘It’s nothing.”  
“A pretty heavy nothing that’s got you looking so forlorn all day,” Kotetsu said, slinging an arm over Nathan. Nathan tittered and grinned at Kotetsu.  
“I’ve got some things on my mind, but,” he smiled weakly, “I don’t want to bother anyone with them, so–”  
“Ivan,” Kotetsu said, stern. “For some things that are _on your mind_ you need another person to _get them off._ ” He flopped down next to Ivan on the couch. “Talk to me.”  
Nathan just hovered, curious.

“Um. I’m... I’m not a kid. You don’t have to worry about me,” he said, his nervous smile threatening to become permanent.  
“You think adults don’t need help sometimes? Come on, Ivan. This selfless bit can get a little irritating, you know.”  
“I’m sorry,” he said.  
Kotetsu smacked his own face with his hand. Nathan intervened, kneeling in front of Ivan.  
“Darling, tell us what you’re worried about. We _want_ to help you.”  
Ivan glanced away, and then back to Nathan. Then to Kotetsu. Cleared his throat.  
“I... well. Have you ever felt like you were a burden to the people you loved?”  
Kotetsu just smirked. “Are you kidding?”  
Ivan immediately misunderstood. “I’m not! I mean, I feel like I’m bringing someone more grief than pleasure, and so... maybe it’s better if I don’t see them anymore.”  
“If they didn’t want to see you, they’d tell you, honey,” Nathan said, patting Ivan’s knee.  
“What if he’s just trying to be polite?” Ivan said.

“Are you having an intervention over here?” Came a smooth voice from around the corner. Barnaby followed it, wiping the back of his neck with his towel. “Ivan?”  
“We’re just having a little chat,” Kotetsu said. Almost immediately, he sat up. “Hey, Bunny–” he began.  
“ _Barnaby_ ,” his partner interjected.  
“Bunny, do I cause you a lot of grief?”  
Ivan looked up, surprised. Was Kotetsu trying to demonstrate something for him?  
“Endless. Amounts,” Barnaby replied, pushing up his glasses.  
“See?” Kotetsu said, leaning back and slinging an arm around Ivan.  
“Kotetsu~. That doesn’t really explain anything,” Nathan murmured.  
“What’s this all about?” Barnaby said, crossing his arms.   
Ivan huffed, more exasperated than upset. “Look, I really don’t want to be burdening everyone with my problems–”  
“If we didn’t want to help, we wouldn’t ask,” Barnaby said, point blank, cocking one hip a little. Nathan raised an eyebrow at that. “Trust the people around you a little, Ivan.”  
Suddenly Ivan felt like he was being scolded.

Barnaby... _speaking_... kind of had that effect.

“Someone I care about. I... feel like I’m causing him more grief than happiness. I’m wonder if I should just leave him alone. So I don’t hurt him anymore.”  
Barnaby raised an eyebrow now. “Did he _tell_ you he didn’t want to see you anymore?”  
“N...no.”  
“Did he tell you that you were causing him grief?”  
“Not...in so many words?”  
“Ivan,” Barnaby said.  
“Yes?”  
The tension was beginning to make Kotetsu squirm.  
“Did he tell you what to do to make him happy?”  
“No. Well,” Ivan wrung his hands again. “Maybe he tried. But I didn’t understand.”  
Ivan had a way of making people want to smack him, sometimes. This was evident on Barnaby’s face.  
“Then. Ask.” He said. “Old man, come spot me and leave Ivan alone.”  
Nathan jumped up. “I’ll spot you, gorgeous~.”  
“No, I’d like to keep this one out of trouble for a while. Maybe next time?”  
“Ooh, it’s a date!” Nathan cooed, following the team anyway.

And just like that, his surrogate family had dispersed.

Just ask?

\---

The next night, he found himself going through familiar motions.  
“You have a half hour,” the guard said, and he was alone with Edward once again.  
But this time, Edward was laying on his cot, facing the wall. The gesture sent a wave of cold through Ivan’s body. He couldn’t even look at him? Was he that pathetic?  
“I...brought you... onigiri...” Ivan stammered.  
“Thanks,” Edward said to the wall.

Ivan sat down. Then stood up again.

“I can leave,” Ivan said. “If you don’t want me to see you anymore.”  
That made Edward turn over.  
“Ivan...” he sighed – whined, almost – rubbing his palms against his face.  
“I’m sorry,” Ivan said. The pressure, the uncertainly, the guilt was all building up in him. He might not be able to hold it in. All he could do, all he could ever do, was disappoint Edward. He didn’t _care_ about making his sponsors happy. He didn’t _care_ if he never helped the heroes again. But he _wanted_ to make Edward happy. It was the only thing he’d ever been sure about, and it was the only thing he could _never_ do right.

He couldn’t keep the tears in any more.

“Ivan? Ivan...”  
“I’m sorry!” Ivan shouted, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “I don’t know how to make you happy. I don’t know how to make up for everything I did! I just keep...disappointing you...”

Edward’s hands were on him.

 _Edward's_ hands were on him.

Ivan looked up, vision blurry with tears, and Edward was closer to him than he’d been since they were fifteen. His hands were wrapped around his biceps, as if to shake him into making sense, but without the shaking.  
“What?” Ivan said, voice cracking, when he realized Edward has said something to him.  
“ _Why do you keep coming here?_ ” he asked, voice hard and frayed.

“Why do... why do I visit you?” he sniffed.  
Edward was looking more angry than was probably safe. “Are you pitying me? Or are you still trying to make up for landing me in jail? Do you just want me to like you again?”  
The _like you again_ was a bit much, and sent Ivan into sobs again.  
“I’m...sorry! I won’t...come...anymore!” he cried.  
“Ivan!” Edward shouted, shaking him once to snap Ivan’s eyes up to his own. Ivan gasped.  
“Ivan, I want you to keep visiting me! But not if it makes you feel miserable!”  
Ivan sniffed again.   
“You don’t?”  
Edward growled and sat back down on his cot. He waited for Ivan to take his seat across from him.  
“You never answered me. Why do you keeping coming here? What’s your reason for seeing me?”  
After an audible gulp, Ivan said, quietly, “B...because I want to see you.”  
“Do you think I still hate you?” Edward went on.  
“I...I don’t know,” Ivan said. “I...hoped if you did, maybe... if I spent enough time with you, you’d like me again. But...”  
“But?”  
“But it’s not... working very well, is it?”

“I don’t hate you, Ivan,” Edward said.  
“Ah...Edward!” Ivan said, face brightening.  
“It’s still painful to see you, though.” Ivan sunk again.  
“I’m sorry. If it wasn’t for how I acted...” Ivan said.  
“No, it’s not that!” Edward hissed.

The next thing Ivan knew, we was being lifted by his shirtfront. Edwards face was centimeters away from his own. “Ivan...” he growled.

This was it. Here, in the confines of the jail cell, Edward could kill him. _Should_ kill him. Ivan closed his eyes.

“I can’t stand it,” Edward said, in half a whisper as he closed the space between their lips.

It was gentle. Gentler than Ivan thought an angry man could kiss. Their lips stuck together a little as he pulled away- Ivan’s whole face was a little sticky and damp from tears. Ivan didn’t know what to think. Maybe he _was_ dead? If Edward was kissing him?

“Ivan?”  
“Mm?” Ivan sniffed. Edwards lips were next to his face now. Brushing his face. Cheek to cheek against Ivan’s. Ivan ventured to brush his lips on the side on Edward’s chin.  
“Ivan, listen,” Edward said, kissing him on the temple in between words. “You make me crazy.”  
Ivan’s eyes grew wide.  
“You have everything I wanted. My best friend. Now, my _only_ friend. And you...you just can’t be proud of yourself. You never think what you’ve accomplished is worth anything!”

He wasn’t dead. This wasn’t a dream. But that didn’t mean it made any sense.

“How can I?” Ivan cried, grabbing Edward’s shirtfront for leverage in his approaching tirade. “You hated me! You wanted to kill me! I _wanted_ you to kill me! And I get to be happy, and be a hero, and I’m supposed to be proud of myself?” He choked on a sob, tightening his grip on Edward. “What do you want me to do, come in every day and rub it in? That I have everything you wanted? I can’t be proud of that, Edward! I can’t!” Ivan broke into sobs now, letting go and crying into his hands. Edward groaned and turned away from Ivan, frustrated.

“It’s all I want,” Ivan choked out, tears coming faster than he could rub them away, “to make you happy, but,” he hiccuped, “but I don’t know how...”

“Come here,” Edward said, pointing to his cot.  
“What?”  
“I _said_ come here,” he repeated.  
Ivan hurried over and sat next to him, and was immediately pushed down on the rough sheets.  
“You want to make me happy, Ivan?”  
Ivan nodded, terrified as his friend loomed over him, keeping him pinned.  
Edward pressed his lips down on Ivan’s, _hard._ He pushed his face into Ivan’s, leaving his lips wet when he came up a second later.  
“Be my hero, Ivan.”  
Ivan could only blink.  
“Be a hero for both of us, Ivan,” he said, and he dipped his head back down. This time, his lips were met with an open mouth and a heady groan.  
“Mmm,” Ivan moaned, electricity racing down his body and through his toes.  
“I want to know, Ivan,” Edward said, between the rough presses of his tongue deep into Ivan’s mouth, “I want to know what it’s like to be a hero.” He bit at Ivan’s chin, then licked at the red mark he left. Ivan writhed, but couldn’t move with his hands pinned next to his head. He liked the feeling.  
“Edward,” he gasped.  
“Rub it in, Ivan. Tell me everything. Make me jealous,” he hissed, grinding himself against the blonde, sucking on his neck between sentences.  
“Edward! Ah!” Ivan cried, pushing his hips up into him.   
“Make me happy,” he went on, shoving his tongue into Ivan’s mouth again, shivering when he got it sucked on when he pulled it out, “and show me how good it is to be a hero.”  
“Ah...ahhh...” Ivan moaned, rubbing himself against Edward in rhythm now. He was going to come.

“Be happy for the both of us, Ivan.”

He was going to come, writhing under Edward.

“Show me that what I was imprisoned for wasn’t this _awful,_ ” he thrust his hips, trying to match Ivan’s desperate jerks, “self-deprecating,” he thrust again, “ _misery_ you show me on your face every- Ahh!”  
Edward was coming, eyes shut tight and hands squeezing Ivan’s wrists too hard, but not hard enough. Edward grunted, grinding his hard, spurting length against Ivan’s groin, messing his pants, hissing through the end of it.

Ivan made Edward come.

After a few seconds of groaning and panting, Edward noticed the dazed look on his partner’s face.  
“What’s wrong with you?” he hissed, reaching down and squeezing Ivan’s engorged cock.  
“Ahh! Edward!”  
“I can’t be the only one,” he said, rubbing hard, rubbing all the wrong ways – too hard, too dry – but it didn’t _matter_ which ways because it was _Edward_ touching him, _Edward_ gripping his cock, _Edward_ begging him to _come–_

“A...Agh! Ahh!” Ivan cried, wrapping his arms around Edward and pressing his cock up hard into his friend’s palm. “Yes!” He shuddered through the waves. “Edward...” Looked up into Edward’s bright blue eyes.

“Time’s up,” the intercom bellowed, and they rolled off of one another just in time for the guards to catch them frantically adjusting themselves, beet red and shaking from adrenaline. Like teenagers getting caught by their parents.

“Come on, visit’s over, son,” the guard said.  
Ivan smiled up at Edward, who was taken by surprise.  
He couldn’t make the grin leave his face, all the way to the door.

“Next week?” Ivan said, voice coming out more quietly than he’d tried for.  
“Tomorrow,” Edward said. “If you can.”  
“Tomorrow?”  
“You’ve got a lot to tell me. Ivan.”

\----

“Oh, honey,” Nathan said the next day, tone somewhere between disapproving and teasing, “We have to teach you a thing or two about cover up.”  
“About _what?_ ” Ivan yelped.  
Nathan put a manicured finger under Ivan’s chin, lifting it up. “Just look at those! Have a little shame, would you?”  
Ivan clasped his hands around his neck, face turning red again.  
“I didn’t know...t...they were that bad...”  
“I thought he was showing them off,” Antonio said.   
“What?” Ivan yelped, voice higher than it should have been for a man his age.  
“Guess not,” he said, shrugging. “I know your first time is pretty exciting and all, but do have a little decen-”  
“Ahh!” Ivan cried, running off to the bathroom before he had to hear any more.

He splashed cold water on his face and examined the marks.  
Yes... they _were_ pretty dark.   
_God._  
He gripped the counter’s edge for support. Remembering how they got there made his knees weak. Edward’s hands on him, making him come.

Edward.

\----

“When I came-to in the hospital, I knew the first thing I had to do was tell Agnes about the signal controlling the suits. I didn’t know if it was too late.”  
Edward was looking on, engrossed, with mouth full of rice. “How long were you out?” he mumbled.  
“I still don’t know. But they decided they could try jamming the signal if they had overnight to set it up.”  
“You were really brave, you know,” Edward said.  
Ivan hesitated a second before saying “Thanks.”  
“They couldn’t have done it without you.”  
“You think so?” Ivan was smiling. _Smiling_.

For real.

Edward smiled back- it wasn’t a big glaring thing, but it was more than he’d smiled in a long time. The muscles needed training.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Edward said, suddenly. “I appreciate that you don’t hold it against me.”  
“Sorry?” Ivan repeated. “Sorry for what?”  
“For what? For molesting you! Jesus, Ivan.”  
“But you didn’t...” Ivan said, “You think I didn’t...?”  
Edward was shocked.  
“I thought you were just letting me because of...I don’t know...whatever guilt thing you carry around with you. I thought... I was taking advantage of you.”  
“Edward...” Ivan said, face hot. “It made me happy that you wanted to touch me. Even if it was... because you were angry or pent-up, or whatever. I might still feel guilty, but... the things I’ve desired... have...um...” he looked up, “they’ve always been the same.”

Edward swallowed hard.

“How many more minutes do we have?” he said.  
“Seven or eight,” Ivan replied.

Not nearly enough, but it would have to do.


End file.
